In addition to obtaining a visual inspection with an endoscope/bronchoscope, etc., many physicians will biopsy a region of interest in order to confirm or deny the presence of disease.
The conventional method of obtaining a tissue sample is with a biopsy forceps. Most forceps have an elongated shaft that terminates at a sharp cutter with a tissue receptacle at the distal end. The forceps are threaded through a biopsy channel of the endoscope and a tissue sample is obtained. The forceps are then withdrawn from the endoscope and an assistant picks out the sample with a tweezers and places it in a numbered collection device so that the location of the tissue sample can be traced. The forceps are then reinserted in the endoscope to collect another sample at another collection point. This process is not only time consuming but adds wear and tear on the endoscope caused by the repeated insertion and withdrawal of the forceps.
There exist some biopsy forceps that hold multiple tissue samples in a single receptacle. However, they are not commonly used because the samples may commingle resulting in a loss of traceability. In addition, there is some chance that the samples may cross contaminate each other.
Given these problems there is a need for a multiple biopsy device that can easily obtain multiple tissue samples without requiring the device to be repeatedly withdrawn and inserted into the patient and will not commingle or cross contaminate the tissue samples.